


Vachan

by arpita



Category: Baahubali (Movies), Mahabharata - Vyasa, महाभारत | Mahabharat (TV 2013)
Genre: Crack Crossover, Crack and Angst, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-07-31 05:16:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20109736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arpita/pseuds/arpita
Summary: They have seen it before, been there before, and done it before. Some repeat their errors, some don't. Some have the same destinies, some don't.





	1. Dharmasamasthapana

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MayavanavihariniHarini](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayavanavihariniHarini/gifts).

> 1\. This is purely a work of fiction, based on a Hindu Epic, and there's _absolutely_ no intent of blasphemy, or disrespect to the beliefs of another. The views expressed herein, are solely of the scribbler, and none else's.
> 
> 2\. The parallels drawn here are pretty common, and to be very honest, very evident considering the resemblances between Baahubali and The Mahabharata, so yeah, common disclaimer: Any resemblances are most definitely co-incidental.
> 
> 3\. Comments and criticism are always welcomed with wide-open arms. :)

_ It feels like a call from beyond the realm of time _ , something tells him.

Pitched between his mother’s word, and the woman who called him her husband, yet again, this time he has to choose the path that he hadn’t tread on before. 

In a faraway realm, the warrior had quietly stepped back, letting The Princess become a co-wife to his other brothers as well.

_ A choice between family, and a woman who he had barely known for days? _

_ A choice between blood and promise?,  _

_ Or _ ,

_ A choice between fair and foul? _

_ “You might have to oppose everyone, defy every known scruple in the rulebook, just to keep your word, just to adhere to The Cosmic Order. You must defy even The Paramount Power just for the sake of Dharma. _

** _For, that is Dharma._ **

** _Kshatriya Dharma!_ ** _ ” _

\---

Multiple defeated countenances float back into his memory. It almost seemed as if he were remembering something that he had long forgotten. Crestfallen, defeated faces, surrendered weapons, and-

-A woman standing in the midst of a court full of men. Her robes an enormous line across the breadth of the hall, scattered pieces of dice everywhere-

_ ‘Whoever touches Devasena touches Baahubali’s sword!’  _

_ His reaction is a reflex. Devasena’s words aren’t a precursor to his actions, it is his mother’s schooling that is. _

_ There are stunned faces in the Sabha. His Uncle is roaring, his brother, thoroughly incensed beside the maimed man. _

_ His mother is aghast. As are the courtiers. _

_ ‘You should have considered Devasena’s opinion before arbitrarily deeming her to a prospective bride for your son, Mother.’ he says. _

_ He knows, that exile awaits him this time around as well. _

Even if it did, at least the magnitude of honour would be far greater than it was the last time.


	2. Dharma Eva Hato Hanti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time had come yet again, in this birth, as his brother died, once more, leaving his orphaned child under their care.
> 
> And once more, as he could see it, he was the one standing to lose

The last time he remembered holding a sceptre, was when his generous brother had renounced the Throne. A generosity, it seemed surely, one that a perfectly capable younger brother, had bestowed on his visibly blind, elder brother.

**While The Brother’s impotence had remained hidden.**

And then, his widow had returned, as had his fatherless sons. Since then, they had always made everything worse for them. Their arrival triggered an endless battle for Kingship, denounced and demeaned every rule in the book with regard to Kinship, and so on…

He however, had considerable regard for Kinship, in all his malice towards his nephews, and yet, he was the one who had lost everything.

Time had come yet again, in this birth, as his brother died, once more, leaving his orphaned child under their care.

And once more, as he could see it, he was the one standing to lose.

\---

  
  


_ “Your inebriation muddles your speech, Father.” Bhalla spoke, almost mechanically. _

** _Inebriation, my foot!_ ** _ , he had mentally spat. _

_ “Do you think my spite spews drivel?!” he began, - “Years ago, my brother was given the Throne, and now again, you stand wronged.” _

_ Bhalla simply would not speak, much to his chagrin. _

_ “And what for?!”- he roared, flinging his angavastram away to reveal his deformed hand. _

_ “For this?!”- he bellowed further, - “For a cripple cannot rule, is it?” _

_ “And how has it ever mattered?!” his lips curve in a cruel smile, “For there’s another hand, forged of iron!” _

_ The wall right in front of them came crushing in pieces as The Maimed Royal smashed it with his bare hand. _

_ \--- _

“Come!” he remembers a vague memory, almost like a faraway call with echoes resounding in the present.

“Come, my boy!” his arms were stretched out wide to embrace The Victorious One, His Son’s Adversary,-

-His nemesis.

The younger man was pulled behind by another, who his sightless eyes couldn’t see. And yet, he heard someone come forward.

His arms didn’t register the cold, hard exterior of the ferrous counterpart of his boy’s killer. None of the shards pierced him even in the slightest, as his vice-like embrace grounded the effigy to smithereens as a horrified crowd watched the Old King vent his grievous anger.

\---

  
  


_ This time, his soul stays parched, yet again, longing for a vengeance that would never, ever come.  _

_ His jealousy hadn’t served any purpose, even in his previous life. _

_ This time, yet again, as Mahendra Baahubali took charge, Bijjaladeva’s soul quietly longed for death, and hence, salvation. _

_ For this time, he understands, his soul couldn’t bear the onslaught of yet another human existence. _


	3. Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So much for adherence.” Kattappa heaves yet another sigh as he follows His King to the cage in the courtyard, once again.

To him, Dharma has always been an ailment, and an oxymoronic one at that.

Once again, he adheres to something that he doesn’t want to believe in. Once again, his soul makes a choice demeaning to its own being.

And yet, choose he must, for that is just what Dharma meant.

\---

_ Renunciation was never new to him, in this life or another. In one life, he had renounced the throne, in another, he has now renounced himself. _

_ He is yet celibate, like he was before, yet in this life, he’s a low-born, like the one he had condemned in his last. _

_ Here he is condemned and celebrated alike. The condemn spews from his slavery, as do the decorations conferred on him for his mettle in war. _

_ And to this date, he is still a keeper of his word, more than the ones he would kill anyone for, more than himself, - _

_ -Perchance more than the lands he had sworn to protect- _

_ A bed of arrows had been his solace and atonement in his previous life. _

_ He hopes, -and his hopes are yet in vain- his Dharma would come to his rescue in this life. _

“So much for adherence.” Kattappa heaves yet another sigh as he follows His King to the cage in the courtyard, once again.


	4. Dharmo Na Hantavyo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A soul's struggle for unity.

Power wasn’t ever something her soul had voluntarily sought. And in her previous incarnation, it hadn’t come to her in its full bloom either.

Time however had chosen to make a difference this time around as she saw herself take the mantle of Queen Regent. 

_ A Mother, and a Queen Regent, with the added responsibility of a spiteful husband. _

_ Ah! Fate never dealt an easy hand. _

\---

“Share it with your brothers.” her son heard, as did the newlywed bride.

The Mother had no time to judge the aftermath of her words. For all she knew, discord was never a welcome guest when it came to her family. They were already on the run from their own kin. 

Maintaining familial harmony was her Dharma, never mind the sacrifices made on its altar, she had reasoned the moment she had watched her husband’s corpse burn on the pyre she had prepared by her own hands.

And this was just one step, for the greater good.

Or at least she deemed it so.

\---

_ Bhallaladeva was never an easy child _ , she reasoned when she watched The Crown Princess of Kuntala proudly standing beside her younger boy, Amarendra Baahubali.

She didn’t think of her, or The Son who stood guarding her with his sword. For that moment she could only think of her other child, who had now -supposedly- been spurned by this arrogant woman.

_ Familial harmony is of paramount importance _ , someone spoke within her.

She makes a final attempt at salvaging her Dharma by consolation, hoping Baahu would listen. After all, when it came to family, he would lay his life out on a platter for them. 

**And this girl, was nothing.**

Baahubali, however, subverts all her expectations by choosing that haughty, obstinate woman, much to his Mother’s disappointment.

_ That girl, always left her with no choice, _ she thought.

If Baahubali had chosen a bride over his mother, his mother, for her part, could certainly choose another King for The Maahishmati Throne.

“Bhallaladeva shall be crowned King on the auspicious Day of Vijayadashami!” boomed she. “And the coronation shall be supervised by The Commander-in-Chief, Amarendra Baahubali!”

And everyone knew, that her word was law.


End file.
